In article ,
says...


While I have no desire to get in between you and the flight sim guy, here is
why lead was removed from auto fuel.

https://courses.washington.edu/uconj...leman_2000.pdf



Thanks for pointing to this interesting article.
Though strongly one-sided, the article is well prepared, and a good basis for
discussion - exactly the opposite of any response the flight-sim guy would have
given.

The article does not explain (nor does it purport to explain) why TEL was added
to fuels, and why it remains in aviation fuel - which goes beyond its value as
an anti-knock agent.

More significantly, the article does not clearly elucidate the main impetus for
removal of TEL from fuels - not because of concerns over atmospheric lead, for
which many believe the author has wildly overstated the case - but because of
its incompatibility with the catalytic converters mandated by the Clean Air
Act, a far more significant step in the reduction of air pollution from
automobiles.

Indeed, the case was never clearly made for widespread, low-level toxicity from
what Needleman refers to as "silent" levels of airborne lead. He correctly
points out however, the difficulty in controlling lead exposure in industrial
settings where workers handle the substance (fuel refineries, battery
manufacturers etc). In these cases, airborne exposure is only a small part of
the story - some of the worst cases involving children whose parents worked in
these settings, and who brought lead home on their clothes, their personal
articles and themselves, leading to ingestion by the children, whose brains are
far more sensitive to it.

Similarly, for someone involved in aviation today, it would be difficult to
make a realistic case for any significant danger from inhalation of airborne
lead. The concentrations, length of exposure, number of aircraft (imagine the
Los Angeles freeways in pre-catalytic converter days!!) are just not there. A
more plausible scenario would be a careless Airframe and Powerplant mechanic,
in physical contact with fuel and engine parts all day, not exercising proper
hygiene techniques and bringing the lead home to be ingested by his children
through food etc. In this day and age, I would suspect that A&P mechanics are
fully sensitized to the issue, and aware of methods to reduce exposure, though
I would not be surprised to learn that some shops lack the washroom and
lead-lockout changing rooms required to fully control the risk of exporting the
substance.